Yeshua woke up at eleven in the morning, and spent some time in the bathroom before hanging his sheets out on the balcony to dry. It was hard to get the bloodstains out, and he had to scrub them for a while to get them clean.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Yeshua was taken aback and thought that his secret might have been discovered, so he quickly walked to the door. It was Officer Wang Yanjin and several other police officers who had come to inquire about the shopping mall incident.
One of the survivors from the last incident had revealed the words spoken in the strange broadcast at the time, and Yeshua's name had come up in the investigation of the Slasher and the police. Wang Yanjin had volunteered to investigate Yeshua, as they had become friends after meeting at the gym during the incident and often chatted online and played games together.
"Please come in," Yeshua invited the officers inside. He then turned to his girlfriend and said, "Yunxin, we have guests!"
"Alright, I'll go change my clothes!" said Yunxin, who then tidied up the coffee table before going into the bedroom wrapped in a blanket.
Yeshua had the officers sit at the dining table since there was no sofa. Wang Yanjin reassured Yeshua that they were only there to collect information and that he need not be nervous.
"Mr. Yeshua, were you and your girlfriend at the mall shopping on the day of the incident with your boss?" Wang Yanjin asked, and his colleagues began taking notes.
Yeshua nodded. He couldn't hide that fact.
"May I ask how you managed to escape the danger and leave the mall?" Wang Yanjin's question made Yeshua's heart skip a beat. He would have to rely on his acting skills to answer this one.
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"At that time, my girlfriend and I had already walked out of the mall's main entrance. When we turned around, we saw that the black mist had sealed the doors," Yeshua pretended to try and recall the situation. "As you know, Wang Officer, we had experienced something strange the day before the mall incident, so we were very scared and quickly ran back home. We didn't dare go out again."
Yeshua wasn't making this up; there had been reports of the strange occurrences on the internet. Any place enveloped by the eerie black mist would cause electronic devices to malfunction, just like the surveillance equipment in the mall. As long as there was no surveillance footage, he could make up whatever story he wanted, and the chances of being found out were slim.
As for how the strange broadcast could be transmitted through the speakers, that was simply the power of the eerie microphone.
"Oh, I see," nodded Wang Yanjin. The surveillance footage from the nearby streets and shopping mall had been mysteriously wiped on the day of the incident, making investigation and evidence collection extremely difficult.
Wang Yanjin was impressed by Ye Sha's luck and decided to be upfront with him. "Mr. Ye, to be honest, the surviving victims of the incident mentioned the name 'Ye Sha' repeatedly. Our department analyzed the possible visitor list and thought it might be related to you."
"What? You're not kidding me, are you?" Ye Sha's face turned fearful, resembling that of an ordinary resident.
"The entity has already been eliminated, it may have been the same one as the one from the gym incident," reassured Wang Yanjin.
"That's a relief, I'm glad," sighed Ye Sha, visibly relieved. Just then, Liu Yunin walked over with a tray of tea and served it to the officers.
As the investigation concluded, Wang Yanjin and Ye Sha relaxed and made their way to the window. "Ye Sha, you're amazing. The last time we met, you were just the boss, and now you're the girlfriend?" Wang Yanjin said with a hint of envy. How did Ye Sha get so lucky?
"Just going with the flow. After all, we've been living together for so long," chuckled Ye Sha before teasing, "What have you been up to lately? Not playing games anymore?"
"Games? If I can get enough sleep, that'd be great!" Wang Yanjin pointed to his dark circles, "After the entity appeared, crime rates in the city have gone up. We can't beat the entity, so how can we beat the criminals? That's why we're working overtime like crazy."
"Sounds tough. Why don't you stay for lunch?" Ye Sha wanted to increase their friendship and find out more information.
"Can't. I have to report back to the department. I'm a takeout kind of guy!" Wang Yanjin patted Ye Sha's shoulder and laughed, bidding farewell to his colleagues and preparing to leave.
"Take care! Come to my place for dinner next time when you're off-duty," Ye Sha said as he saw the officers off.
"I definitely will!" Wang Yanjin replied loudly as he got into the police car.
Ye Sha watched the car drive away, squinting in the bright sun. He couldn't help but feel a sense of crisis. He couldn't be complacent and needed to actively grow stronger.